


scarlet dragon

by SolidStateScouter



Category: Touhou Project
Genre: F/F, Gen, Other, Pre-Canon, mentions of cannibalism
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-06-27
Updated: 2015-07-12
Packaged: 2018-04-06 12:57:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 10,981
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4222533
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SolidStateScouter/pseuds/SolidStateScouter
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Meiling's experiences in joining the Scarlet Devil Mansion.</p><p>(Will this ever be completed? Who knows!)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Meiling never thought that she'd be in this situation at any point in her long, long life.

Remilia Scarlet pouts and holds the maid outfit up high. "Come on, Meiling. Please? I spent like, twenty minutes looking for this. That's twenty minutes longer than I wanted to look for it. Please wear it."

The dragon looks at the uniform apprehensively. "Why do you want me to wear this so badly?" The dress is coated with layers of dust and mold, and it looks like it's about to fall apart.

"Well! I bet you'd look adorable in it!" Remilia shakes the outfit for emphasis. A layer of dust falls to the ground, and the vampire sneezes. There's a brief, awkward silence. "I mean, you'd have to wash it and everything..."

"I think I'll pass, Lady Remilia."

Her employer huffs and crosses her arms, frowning. "Fine! Suit yourself." She drops the dress, kicking up another cloud of dust. Remilia sneezes again and grumbles. "Clean that up. Later. First, I need to take you on a tour of the premises."

Meiling looks up from her now dusty dress and raises an eyebrow. "A tour?"

"Mhm!" Remilia claps her hands together with a grin. "A tour of the illustrious Scarlet Devil Mansion!" The vampire does a dramatic twirl. It sounds like she's been rehearsing this. "As a member of the staff, you're going to need to know your way around the grounds!"

"Oh. Yeah." Meiling nods quickly, scratching at the back of her neck.

"So! Come on!" Remilia spins around and flutters out the door. Meiling follows behind her. She still wasn't quite sure how she ended up in this situation, exactly. Her stomach still hurt.

The mansion blends together. It's a mess of interconnecting hallways and arches and empty rooms, almost mazelike in its pointless complexity. Remilia knows her way around, though, easily fluttering through the halls to point out random rooms. Meiling listens, trying to memorize the layout of the mansion. Everything blends together.

Layers of dust coat nearly every surface. Now that she's finally gotten out of her room, Meiling can see why Remilia was all too eager to accept her offer. In between her comments about various rooms, the vampire is rambling on about the history of her noble bloodline. Meiling barely pays attention.

Eventually, Remilia stops at a small, battered-looking closet. "This is the cleaning closet! All the things you need to clean up are here!" Remilia opens up the doors with a flourish. All the cleaning supplies look as filthy as the things they're meant to clean up. Meiling sighs as Remilia shuts the doors. "Now, I'm sure you're already aware that I do not live alone here!"

Meiling nods. "Uh, yeah. I met Lady Patchouli earlier." Well, met wouldn't be the proper term. More just, 'briefly interacted'.

"Ah, yes! Patche! She's a good friend of mine! She's the mansion's librarian!" Remilia is grinning widely as she flutters through a door and down some stairs. "Now, I expect you to give her the same respect you give me! She's an important part of this household."

The dragon pauses. "Uh, yes, Lady Remilia." She hadn't thought that Remilia was going to give anyone else that much credit. The vampire looks back with a small grin.

"Everyone in this household is an important part of it, Meiling! That includes you." Meiling is silent, and Remilia continues down the stairs. "Anyways! Patche isn't alone down here! Her familiar, Koakuma, lives with her and helps out with the library! She's in charge of library maintenance." The stairs end.

Remilia pushes open the doors to the library. "Patche!" The Scarlet Devil Mansion's library is massive, Meiling realizes. Bookshelves are stacked up to the ceiling, and walkways criscross all the way to the top. Why any one person would need a library this large was beyond her. "I'm here, and I brought Meiling!"

The vampire's voice echoes throughout the otherwise silent library for a few moments. Then, a short, winged shape flies down from one of the higher walkways. Koakuma. She's wearing a suit that extends into a long, flowing skirt. Her hair is long and red. Along with the larger wings sprouting from her back, she has a pair of smaller ones on the sides of her head. "Ah, Lady Remilia! And you must be Lady Meiling!" Koakuma does a short, curt bow. "I'm Koakuma!"

"Uh, yes." Meiling bows in return, trying to ignore the anxiety brewing in her stomach. "It's a pleasure."

Koakuma waves her hand. "The pleasure's all mine!" Meiling gives her a nervous smile, blood rushing to her face. _Fantastic, now this is happening._

Meiling looks up just as Patchouli floats down. She's wearing the same nightgown as she was when she checked up on Meiling a few days ago. She's pale, and Meiling can see that she's sickly. This is nothing new.

"Remi." Patchouli nods at Remilia, floating. "And Meiling. You've recovered, I take it?" Her voice is quiet and distant, and her gaze steady and analytical. Every word is carefully measured and enunciated.

Meiling shifts awkwardly and nods. "Uh, yes, Lady Patchouli. Mostly, anyways. It will take a while for everything to fully heal." Patchouli nods and looks away from her. The awkwardness is almost palpable.

Remilia clears her throat. "Well, Meiling here is our new helper! She'll be cleaning and cooking and stuff! She'll also be bringing tea and stuff into here when needed." This was all agreed upon earlier, when Meiling pledged herself to Remilia. "Does that sound good with everyone?"

Patchouli and Koakuma nod. The magician has already stopped paying attention to the conversation, eyes wandering back to where she had floated from. Remilia grins and claps her hands together. "Excellent! Now, come on, Meiling. There's one more person you need to meet."

* * *

"Her name is Flandre. She's my younger sister," Remilia explains, leading Meiling down another hallway. The hallway is tucked away into some far-off, dusty corner of the mansion. It smells like mold and rot and death.

The hallway leads to a staircase, which Remilia walks down. "And why is she in the basement...?" Meiling asks, tentatively. This doesn't feel right. She can sense the chi of what she assumes to be Flandre – faint and sharp. Like Remilia's, except... jagged, almost like broken glass.

"This is where her room is. She's not down here all the time." Remilia is quiet for a moment. "She's dangerous. She could kill everyone in this mansion, if she lost control. You're going to try and help her learn how to better control her powers. Treat her the same way you treat me. Take care of her. If that sounds alright?"

Meiling nods slowly. She doesn't know what she's getting herself into, but it can't be that bad. Well, it could easily get that bad, if Flandre is as powerful as Remilia is implying. "Yes, Lady Remilia."

"She's a part of the family. I can't let her rot in here." Remilia stops at the base of the stairs and knocks at the door. "Flan? I brought a visitor!"

"Ah! Coming!" There's the pitter patter of feet, and then the door creaks open. The girl that looks at Meiling from inside the dark basement is short and pale. Taller than Remilia, but not by much. Her hair is blonde, with the same ragged haircut as her sister. "Remi! Oh!" She looks at Meiling, surprised. A nervous smile grows on her features. "Hi! I'm Flandre!"

"I'm Hong Meiling. It's nice to meet you, Lady Flandre." The dragon bows respectfully.

Flandre shakes her head quickly. "You don't need to call me Lady! Just call me Flandre! It's nice to meet you too, Miss Meiling!" The vampire smiles at Meiling brightly.

"Flan, Meiling is new here! She'll be sticking around. She's going to be tidying up the mansion and cooking for us. She'll also be taking care of you. Does that sound good with you?" Remilia explains. Meiling notices that she's wringing her wrists.

Flandre nods. "Uh, yeah! That sounds okay." She looks back up at Meiling, and remains silent. The dragon smiles awkwardly, and Flandre returns the gesture. Suddenly, Flandre clears her throat and looking back at her elder sister. "Remi! It's almost bedtime. Can Patche read me a bedtime story?"

"Of course! I'll take you up to her." Remilia holds out her hand and Flandre hops up, taking it. "Meiling, make yourself at home. You'll start your job tomorrow! Also, you're going to have to get used to our schedule around here. Me and Flan sleep during the day, so..."

Meiling nods, rubbing at the back of her neck.

"See you, Miss Meiling!" Flandre waves good bye as she floats up the stairs with her sister. Meiling waves back and watches them disappear behind the corner, then sighs. She has no idea how she's going to do any of this.

May as well think it over in bed.


	2. Chapter 2

Meiling was used to the bright light of a sunrise waking her up. Now, it was the distant glow of a sunset. She rises from her bed and looks out the window. In the distance, the sun approaches the horizon, bathing the sky in beautiful orange light.

Her first real day on the job, as the caretaker of the Scarlet Devil Mansion.

Better get started, then.

She sheds the clothes she had worn to bed and makes her way to the nearest bathroom. It looks like it hasn't been used in ages, but, thankfully, the shower still works. The water is cold and oily. Dust floats away, down the drain. Meiling doesn't take long. She has other things to do.

First, she changes into cleaner, fresher clothes. All she really has is the two pairs of clothes. It wasn't like she needed anymore than that, when she was on her own. They looked pretty much identical. Maybe she'd sew some more later, if she had the time. It's been a while since she last sewed. She hadn't needed to, before.

After getting dressed, she gathers up her dirty clothes – and the maid outfit Remilia had brought by, before. Meiling drops them into a basket from the bathroom. Later, if she has the time, she'll try to collect everyone's dirty laundry.

For now, she has something else to deal with. She glances at the time on her pocketwatch. 8:30. The sun's only just finished setting – Remilia will likely be asleep for a while longer. Which gives Meiling some free time.

The dragon steps out of her room. It's close to Remilia's – apparently a guest room, or something. It doesn't matter. The corridors from there spread off in one direction, and then promptly get more and more mazelike. The mansion is three stories tall, plus the basement.

The top floor is the least confusing. There's Remilia's room, Meiling's, the bathroom, and then a few others. None of them are empty, but none of them really contain anything of note, either. A few empty, dusty bookshelves. A battered rocking chair sitting by the window. A room filled with nothing but mounted animal heads, stacked on top of one another. Nothing of interest, really.

Meiling checks the time. It hasn't been very long at all. She should check up on Remilia soon, before she wakes up. Meiling would rather not have to deal with a cranky vampire, on top of everything else. That reminds her. She's going to have to make breakfast, for Remilia. And Flandre too, most likely.

The kitchen is on the first floor. Like almost everything else in the house, it's dusty. Meiling wipes the dust off of the counters, trying not to sneeze. She has no idea what Remilia would want to eat for breakfast.

Wait. Remilia's a _vampire._ And that means that she's going to need blood. Hell, she's probably going to need to eat people. And now that Meiling's working for her, she's going to be expected to get that food.

It's not like Meiling hasn't killed people before. It's just... bothersome to have to go out and do it. She knew this was going to be expected when she took this job. Well, when she offered her services to Remilia. But, in the rush of everything else, she had forgotten.

That was a hurdle she'd jump later, though.

For now... she needed to make something for Flandre and Remilia.

* * *

Meiling settles on tea. It's something she knows how to make. The kitchen doesn't have any usable herbs, so she uses her own. Before, when she was still on the move, she had collected them. For medicinal purposes, or for food, or just because she had liked how they looked.

Now, they were lining the counters of a now considerably cleaner kitchen. Meiling had made green tea. It wasn't anything special. Just a way of seeing if Remilia and Flandre liked it.

Meiling knocked on the door to Remilia's room, holding a mug of tea in her other hand. There's silence for a few moments. Then, Remilia's voice comes through, muffled by the door. "Come in." The dragon opens the door.

Remilia Scarlet is sitting on her bed, legs crossed underneath her. Her pale blue hair is a mess. She's wearing a small nightshirt. Her coffin lies behind her, still open. "Good evening, Lady Remilia. Uh, I have tea."

The vampire yawns and rubs at her eyes. "Mm, yes. Thank you, Meiling." She takes the tea quietly, and sips from it. "Ah, this is good. It's been a while since I've had a decent cup of tea."

"I'm glad you like it."

Remilia nods. "You can get on with cleaning, now. I'll be up later. Go check up on Flandre, as well."

"Yes, Lady Remilia." Meiling bows before she heads out, the door slipping shut behind her.

* * *

"Flandre?" Meiling's voice echoes through the dimly lit basement. The only source of lighting in this part of the room is a flickering lantern. Everything else has gone out by now. Just more things Meiling will have to fix.

For now, though, the basement is way creepier than it needs to be. The poor light granted by the lantern is reflected in the shards of broken glass and porcelain that lie on the floor. Good thing she's wearing shoes. Not that it'd really be any danger to her anyways, but still...

There's the sound of something creaking, and Meiling catches a glimpse of red eyes in the darkness. "Miss Meiling...?" Flandre's voice is muffled by sleepiness. It sounds out of place in the eerie basement.

"Yes, it's me. Good evening, Flandre. I brought tea," Meiling smiles weakly, raising the mug.

"Oh!" Flandre stumbles out from her coffin and flutters over to Meiling, and into the faint light. "Gosh, this smells good." When she takes the mug of tea, she hesitates for a moment. "Does this have... people in it...?"

Meiling shakes her head, crouching down to pick up the broken glass. "Uh, no. Are you hungry?" The younger Scarlet sister nods and takes a sip of tea. "I'll make something with blood in it soon, then."

"Okay! Meiling, this tea is really good..." Flandre smiles brightly. "It's been a while since I've had tea! Koakuma makes it, sometimes," she talks excitedly, in between sips. "But Remi doesn't know how. Patche's even worse. It's a good thing we have you and Koakuma around to do that!"

"Uh, yeah. Great." Meiling gives her a small smile. "I'm glad you like it, Flandre." The dragon is examining one of the lanterns. It's an oil lamp. She has no idea where she was going to find oil. Maybe Patchouli or Koakuma would be able to help.

Suddenly, there's a small pressure against her back. Two small arms curl around her waist. "Thank you, miss Meiling!" Flandre's voice is muffled by the fabric of Meiling's dress.

Meiling doesn't know how to respond to that. Her smile grows, slightly. "Uh. You're welcome. I'm just doing my job," she mutters, flustered. "Um, hey, I'm gonna go get Koakuma. Gotta get these lights fixed. Does that sound alright with you, Flandre?"

"Mhm!" Flandre nods. "Don't take too long! I wanna show you my dolls." She picks up a battered looking porcelain doll and waves it around excitably.

"I'll be back soon."

* * *

Meiling's halfway through the kitchen when Remilia flutters into the room. "Ah, Meiling! I've been looking for you." The vampire has cleaned herself up a bit since she had awoken. She's wearing her normal dress, and her hair's slightly less messy. "You were with Flandre, I'm assuming?"

The dragon nods, brushing off her dress. "Yes. I was giving her the tea. I was going to go see if Koakuma could help me repair the lanterns in the basement. Do you need something, Lady Remilia?"

"Oh, good." Remilia grins, and then goes silent for a moment. She looks around before sighing, looking very much like a petulant child. "Well. I'm bored, Meiling."

"Uh, well. Are you hungry? I could make breakfast for you and Flandre to eat while I clean the basement." Meiling scratches at the back of her neck. She looks around the kitchen. It's still only barely usable.

Remilia lights up, clapping her hands together. "Ah, that'd be splendid! You should invite Patche up, too! It'd be lovely! It's been _ages_ since we've dined together. It'd be like a proper family!"

"Uh, yeah. I'll go get Lady Patchouli then. What would you like to eat? I, uh... I don't cook very often, so..."

Remilia waves her off. "Surprise me! I'm sure Patche has cookbooks in that library of hers."

"... Understood, Lady Remilia."

* * *

"You're looking for a cookbook," Patchouli doesn't look up from her desk. "And what for, exactly?"

Meiling shifts her feet nervously. "Uh. I'm making breakfast for Lady Remilia and Flandre. Remilia told me to invite you, so, if you're interested..."

The magician is silent for a moment. She flips to the next page of her book. "Well, I suppose so. It's been a while since we've had a breakfast together. The kitchen's falling apart, last I checked."

"Yeah... I'm going to have to clean it out and everything first," Meiling says, wringing her wrists. "The oven still works, but it needs some work too..."

Patchouli nods. "I think I might be able to help with that. But first... Koakuma!" There's a brief silence while the devil flutters over to them quickly. She's holding a small stack of books.

"You called, Lady Patchouli?" Koakuma chirps, giving Meiling a polite smile.

"Yes. Meiling is looking for a cookbook. Do you think you could find one for her?" Patchouli asks, finally looking away from her book. The devil nods, and flies away quickly, leaving Meiling and Patchouli alone.

There's a long, awkward silence. Patchouli looks up at Meiling, but doesn't say anything. The dragon swallows, suddenly nervous. She finds that she is unable to meet Patchouli's gaze. She stares at the floor, gripping her hands tightly behind her back. It feels like her heart is going to leap out of her throat. Fantastic.

The silence is broken when Patchouli coughs. "Meiling."

It takes a few moments for the dragon to find her voice again. "Uh, yes, Lady Patchouli...?"

The magician waves her hand. "You don't need to call me that. Patchouli is fine. Anyways, you're a dragon, right?" She leans forward in her desk, looking at Meiling with interest.

Meiling nods. "Yeah, uh. I'm a rainbow dragon, from China." There's the sound of creaking wood when Patchouli lies back in her chair.

"And... this isn't your true form, I'm assuming?"

"Yeah," Meiling mutters, gesturing around the library. "Uh, I can't fit in the halls while I'm in my dragon form. But I could probably fit fine in here. With a bit of squeezing, maybe." She looks up, at the ceiling, and all the walkways around the library. "It'd be a tight fit, but..."

Patchouli nods. "You don't need to show me. It'd be better to do it outside. Not as much things to knock down. Later, perhaps."

It is at that point that Koakuma returns, with an entirely different stack of books. "I'm back! I got the books you wanted about cooking... probably!" She sets the books down on the desk. "They'll probably be informative, if nothing else!"

Meiling picks up one of the books and looks at the cover. She can't read the title. It's not in english, or in mandarin, or any other language she can read. Patchouli groans. "Koakuma, this has nothing to do with cooking. Neither does this."

The devil crosses her arms and frowns. "Well, sorry! I try to be a nice person, but noo - "

Patchouli slams the book shut. "You're doing your _job,_ " she snaps.

"Well, I would be, if you didn't keep on telling me what to do!" The devil sticks her tongue out at Patchouli.

"I'm telling you what to do because I'm your _boss_ ," Patchouli grumbles, standing up. "Whatever. It's fine. Go back to what you were doing. I'll try to find a cookbook for Meiling."

The magician floats away, gesturing for Meiling to follow her. She does, glancing back at Koakuma. The devil is mimicking Patchouli sarcastically. When she catches Meiling's gaze, she quickly picks up a stack of books and flutters off.

"I think the cookbooks might be over here," Patchouli mutters, floating up to a high shelf on one of the walkways. Meiling flies up after her. The library is massive. How Patche knows where anything is is beyond her. "Ah, no. Of course not." The magician grumbles, sliding a book back into its place on the shelf.

Meiling looks behind her, at another bookshelf. It's filled with more books than she'd ever know what to do with. One with a readable title catches her eye, and she pulls it out. It's chinese. Not a cookbook, but... "You have Dream of the Red Chamber?"

Patchouli turns around. "What?"

The dragon raises the book. "This book. It's a chinese classic. It's like. A little over a century old, now." She opens the book, running her hands over the pages.

"What's it about?" asks Patchouli, turning back to looking through the bookshelves.

Meiling closes the book gently. "Uh, a lot of things. There's romance involved. A noble son wants to marry someone, but he's arranged to marry another. His family ends up losing pretty much everything. It's really long and complicated."

There's a few moments of silence between the two of them. "I've never really been one for fiction," Patchouli says, eventually. "And that certainly does look like quite the long read."

"Yeah. It's very long." Meiling slides the book back into the bookshelf.

"Mhm." There's silence for a few more minutes, as both Meiling and Patchouli continue looking through the books. And then – "I found one. A cookbook." The magician turns around and hands the book to Meiling. "Hopefully you can make something decent with this."

Meiling takes the book. It's battered and old. Looks like it hasn't been opened in ages. Hopefully it proves useful. "Thank you, Patchouli."

She waves her off. "It's fine. Call me and Koakuma up when it's ready."

"Uh, yeah. I will..."

Patchouli gives her a small smile. "I look forward to it, Meiling."

A blush spreads across Meiling's cheeks. Thankfully, Patchouli's already floating away. The dragon stands there, awkwardly, for a couple moments as she watches her leave.

She _is_ pretty cute... Meiling blinks, and then shakes her head. No, not now. She needs to cook. She needs to focus on cooking. The dragon flies out of the library, trying to clear her thoughts. She can think about... whatever this is later. For now, she needs to cook.


	3. Chapter 3

Dead leaves crunch under Meiling's boots, and blow away in the wind. The setting sun makes for a beautiful splash of color across the horizon. It's the kind of thing Remilia or Flandre would never be able to appreciate.

For now, Meiling pays it no mind. She lowers her shovel to the ground, pushing it in deeper with a stomp of her foot. It had been a couple weeks since she had joined the Scarlet Devil Mansion. And now, she was gardening.

The day before, she had set up the flowerbeds in the morning, before Remilia was awake to ask for attention and food. Meiling had done what she could in her free time before to proceed with the garden. Now, it was time to get planting.

It's long, repetitive work. Nothing strenuous – it'd take a lot more than gardening to wear down Meiling – but nothing exactly engaging either. But at least it was calming. The minutes passed by quickly, and, eventually, the sun vanished behind the horizon.

Meiling realizes that she should get inside, before Remilia woke up and started fussing about not having tea at the ready. The dragon quickly rises from her knees, glancing down at the small lumps of dirt she had covered the seeds with.

She had gardened before, so it's not like this was anything _that_ new to her. Still. Meiling had borrowed books from the library to assist her. Remilia was ecstatic when she had heard Meiling's idea – a big, beautiful garden, fitting for a vampire princess. But she really had to get to Remilia now, before the vampire woke up and spent too long alone. Remilia was not a morning person.

The dragon quickly turned and ran back inside. She'd have more time to garden in the future. For now, she had to deal with Remilia.

* * *

In the past, the only thing Meiling had to guide her to Remilia's room was the distant feeling of her chi. Now, after weeks spent combing through and cleaning every inch of the mansion, she could get there without trouble.

Still, Remilia's chi was almost like an anchor, a reassuring presence that Meiling felt almost compelled to follow. Patchouli had mentioned, once before, that Remilia had the power to manipulate fate. Meiling wonders how much of the past few weeks of her life had been manipulated to suit whatever Remilia desired.

Her thoughts end abruptly when she reaches the door to Remilia's room. Inside the room, she can sense Remilia – powerful, static, the contradictory chi of one who should be dead and yet still walked. However, beside her – literally, right beside her – there was a second life. As small and faint as it was, it had almost slipped past Meiling's senses.

Patchouli.

Their voices are quiet, and muffled by the door. Meiling feels her throat dry up. Is she interrupting something? How close are they? Remilia had mentioned that Patche was a close friend of hers before, but... Meiling hadn't looked into it any further than that.

She stands there for a few moments, unsure of how to proceed. This was new, and Meiling didn't know what to make of it. Before, Patchouli had always remained in the library, almost all the time. Sometimes she came up and had tea with Remilia. More often, Remilia went down and had tea with her. Meiling had always left them to their own business as she went to tend to other things in the mansion...

Eventually, Meiling throws caution to the wind and knocks against the door. "Uh, Lady Remilia? Are you awake yet?" The conversation on the other side of the door goes quiet, before her employer speaks up.

"Ugh, yeah. Come on in, Meiling." Remilia's voice is irritable, and still heavy with sleep. Meiling takes a deep breath and pushes open the door.

Remilia is sitting up straight in her hilariously oversized bed, with Patchouli lying down beside her. The magician is wearing the same nightgown she always does, while Remilia is still in her nightgown. The two of them are close, and _oh god are they holding HANDS?_ Meiling was not prepared for this.

There's a long, awkward silence. Meiling feels her face heat up. She didn't know what she should have expected. "Um." Patchouli looks away from her and cracks open a book. "Good... evening, Lady Remilia, and. Patchouli."

"Yeah, yeah," Remilia mutters irritably. "Could you get the two of us some tea? Rose tea for me, thank you. What would you like, Patche?"

Patchouli shrugs. "I'm alright with whatever," her voice is hoarse, and she breaks into a coughing fit near the end of her sentence.

Remilia sighs and pats her back gently. "Something soothing for her, maybe. Off you go." Meiling nods and backs out quickly, closing the door behind her a bit too quickly. It slams shut, rattling the frame. Meiling can hear Remilia fussing over Patchouli from outside.

Meiling shakes her head and makes her way to the kitchens. What was that? She knew Remilia and Patchouli were close, probably closer than anyone else in the mansion, but she didn't think they were this close... She had thought they were just friends, and they had seemed to be so much more. Meiling rubs her forehead. She needs to clear her mind, this is too much to process all at once.

For now, she had tea to brew.

It doesn't take long to prepare it, but boiling it is another story. Remilia's never been the most patient person, but she'll have to wait now. With a sigh, Meiling sits down and crosses her legs. If she has the time, she should take it to meditate. Maybe she'll be able to clear her thoughts.

A while later, she's brought back to reality by the sound of whistling kettles. Meiling rises to her feet and pours the tea into cups. Thankfully, her meditation had served to clear her head. With renewed confidence and clarity of thought, Meiling quickly makes her way to Remilia's room.

Once she gets there, Meiling knocks her head against the door. "Lady Remilia, I have the tea. May I come in?"

"Mhm." Remilia's voice is soft and warm. These are two words Meiling wouldn't have ever associated with her before. "It took you long enough," she continues. Meiling is almost grateful for the return to Remilia's more traditional teasing. Too much has happened too quickly for her to process it.

Meiling nudges the door open with her foot and steps in. Now that she's had more time to prepare herself, and now that she knows that to expect, what she sees isn't nearly as jarring. Still... it's surprising to see the two of them so close. Patchouli seems to have fallen asleep, breathing softly. Remilia is nestled against the crook of her arm, looking content. More content then Meiling's ever seen her.

"Good evening, Lady Remilia." Meiling sets the mugs of tea down on the nightstands on each side of the bed. "The tea's still hot, so be careful."

Remilia nods, taking her cup into her hands carefully. "Thank you, Meiling. I'll give Patche's hers when she wakes up." The vampire stirs her tea with a spoon, shifting slightly. "I think I'll stay in bed with Patche for a while longer. We'll be out later, perhaps. Off you go, then."

Meiling nods and gives a small bow before exiting the room. The door closes quietly behind her.

She still doesn't quite know what the hell is going on.

But... she's not the only one in this mansion. One of the others is bound to know what's going on in between the two of them.

* * *

The library of the Scarlet Devil Mansion library smells like dust and magic, old parchment and chemicals. No wonder Patchouli's sick all the time, if these are the conditions she works under.

There's several desks scattered throughout the library. Each is covered in discarded, unfinished books and sheets of paper. Some of them haven't been visited in days. It's not Meiling's job to clean them up. Patchouli gets irritated when her books are displaced.

The magician's main desk and work area is in the center of the library. Like the rest of her workspaces, it's covered in books and paper, although the ones here are more frequent. The candle is still burning. Meiling blows it out.

"Meiling? What're you doing in here?" A voice rings out through the silence of the library. Koakuma. The dragon turns around to face her. Koakuma is floating several meters above her, holding a stack of books in her arms.

The devil, although taller than Remilia and Patchouli, is still quite a bit shorter than Meiling. "Hey, Koakuma. I'm here to ask you about something." Meiling flies up to her, stopping once she's reached her level.

"Uh, okay. What is it?" Koakuma adjusts the books in her grip, raising a hand to brush a strand of stray hair from her face.

A few seconds pass in awkward silence as Meiling thinks how to phrase her question. "Lady Remilia and Patchouli. Uh... what's their relationship, exactly...?"

Koakuma stares at Meiling for a moment before her mouth splits open into a grin, flashing her teeth. "Why, do you wanna get in on the librarian love train?"

A blush spreads across Meiling's face and she shakes her head quickly. "N-no!" she stammers, brushing her hair out from her face. "Well, I – it's not important! Can you answer my question?"

The devil picks at her teeth, suddenly looking bored. "You're no fun. They're close! Really close. They've been together for as long as I've known them. Did you walk in on them snuggling or something?"

Meiling nods, wringing her wrists nervously. "Yeah. So... is it romantic, or...?"

Koakuma raises an eyebrow. "Nope. Romance isn't really a thing for either of them. Again, why? Are you interested in getting in on the librarian love train? Cause, like, there's more room. There's always more room."

The dragon stares at the devil for a lew long moments, feeling a blush spread across her cheeks. "Uh," she stutters, raising a hand to rub at her neck. She... did like Patchouli, but. Not like that. She just wanted to get to know her better. As a friend. Not that she'd have a problem with being able to cuddle her like that, but... Meiling shakes her head slightly and looks away. "I should, uh... get going. I need to wake up Flandre."

The devil rolls her eyes and turns around. "Mhm. See you around, Meiling."

* * *

In the weeks that had passed since Meiling had first arrived in the mansion, she had cleaned up the basement considerably. It was much lighter down here than it was before. She had cleaned up the bits of broken dolls from the floor, although occasionally Flandre would break another one.

"Meiling!" Flandre saw her before she did, bouncing from her coffin and wrapping her arms around her. "Hi!"

Meiling smiles and hugs her back. "Hey, Flandre. How was your sleep?"

"It was good! Was yours good too, Meiling? Are you still working on the garden?" Flandre pulls away, bouncing, and Meiling chuckles.

"Yes. Wanna come out and help me with it after we have breakfast?" Meiling looks around the room quickly. Thankfully, it's remained clean, so there's nothing new for her to clean up. Some days, Flandre would wake up and tear through the walls and Meiling would find her huddled in a corner.

They were both grateful it was not one of those nights.

Flandre's nodding quickly. "Yes! I'm really hungry, so..." She wraps her hand around Meiling's arm as the dragon turns back to go upstairs. "Is Remi gonna come with us?"

Meiling pauses. "Um. She said she'd probably be in bed for a while longer, so. Maybe later." The thought of what she had seen is still enough to make her blush slightly. Classic Meiling, getting flustered over a bit of hand-holding.

Flandre frowns. "Oh. Okay. Well! More food for me, then!" She flutters up, still holding Meiling's hand, and the two of them walk up the stairs all the way to the kitchen. Flandre is silent. The only sound she makes is the jingling of her wings as she flaps them. "Can we have a picnic, outside?" She says, eventually, after Meiling's started cooking. She had started cooking food for today yesterday evening, to save time, so there wasn't much to do.

"Of course!" Flandre smiles, at that, and kicks her legs.

It doesn't take long for Meiling to gather up the food into a small picnic basket, and the two of them go outside. Flandre skips happily, humming to herself, and Meiling just smiles.

Outside, the sun's long since set. The sky is dotted with bright stars. Meiling had left the shovel outside, near the flowerbeds, and she picks it up again. Flandre sets out a blanket and sits down and opens the basket.

Flandre eats while Meiling works.

Occasionally, Flandre mutters a question in between mouthfuls of food - "What are you planting there?" "What were the stars like where you came from?" "How big is the garden gonna be?" - but mostly, she stays quiet. She watches Meiling, or she watches the sky.

It's a dark, almost black, blue. The stars shine brightly from behind clouds, and the moon shines brightest of all. It bathes the landscape in pale light. Meiling likes the night. It's cool, and the sparkling of the stars is almost therapeutic.

Hours pass, as Flandre finishes eating and hurries over to help Meiling. The two of them plant in silence, as the moon shines above them.

It's moments like these that Meiling lives for.


	4. Chapter 4

They go back inside later, when Flandre's tired and hungry again. She rubs at her eyes and with dirt-covered hands and grumbles. "I think you need a bath, Flan," Meiling says, patting her head gently. "I'll draw a bath for you, okay?"

"Yeah..." They go downstairs together. There's a bathroom in the basement – before Meiling had arrived, it was a mess. The plumbing hadn't even worked. Getting it to working condition again hadn't been fun.

Meiling lets the tub fill up with water. "Flan. The bath's filling up right now. I'm gonna go up and make lunch, alright? So just come up when you're done and it'll be ready."

"Okay! Thank you, Meiling!"

The dragon leaves the basement, floating over to the kitchen. "Ah, Meiling. There you are," a familiar voice comes from inside the kitchen. Meiling raises an eyebrow.

Remilia Scarlet is struggling to open a bottle of blood without using a corkscrew. "Uh. Lady Remilia, I don't think that's how you open it."

"I couldn't find the corkscrew," she mutters, trying to tear the cork out with her claws. "Not my fault _someone_ misplaced it." Eventually, she manages to rip the cork out of the bottle, and it falls to the floor with a thud.

Meiling sighs. "Sorry, Lady Remilia." Remilia just shrugs and takes a sip from her bottle.

"No matter. I see you were out in the garden. Could you perhaps prepare breakfast for me and Patche? Or, well. Lunch. Patche still isn't feeling well, so she's staying in bed. I'll be back with her shortly."

"Oh, uh." Meiling nods quickly, a blush spreading over her face. "Yeah, of course." Remilia quirks an eyebrow, and then grins. Thankfully, she remains silent, as she turns around to go back to her room.

"Thank you. Now, if you could excuse me..." She leaves the room quietly, still holding her bottled blood. Meiling rubs the back of her neck sheepishly, and turns to the kitchen.

... What does Patchouli even like? If she's not feeling well, it probably wouldn't be great to give her sweets or something. She'd need something with iron and vitamins... "Wait, does Patchouli eat human too...?" Meiling thinks aloud. Probably, now that she thinks about it. Still, she'd have to make sure, later. It'd be weird if she served her human meat and it wasn't something she ate.

That'd be really weird.

Whatever. She needs to cook. No time to think about such things.

* * *

Flandre comes up ten minutes later, her hair still wet. "Oh, that smells good!" she chirps happily. Meiling smiles at her.

"Thank you. Lady Remilia was up earlier, so I'm cooking for her and Lady Patchouli as well. Patchouli isn't feeling well, so."

"Aw..." Flandre frowns. "She gets sick a lot. She always has. Remi used to get sick a lot too, before we became vampires, I think... I can't remember stuff from back then very well. It's been a while."

Meiling nods. "Yeah. Patchouli's always... felt sickly to me. Hopefully this will help her feel better," she gestures towards the food cooking on the stove. "Do you know if she eats human too?"

"Um... I'm not sure... I don't think she needs to eat," Flandre shrugs. "Remi would probably know."

"Okay. And, uh. About that. What is Lady Remilia's and Patchouli's relationship, exactly...?" Meiling asks, apprehensively. She had gotten an answer from Koakuma earlier, but, still...

Again, Flandre shrugs. "I dunno. They love each other a lot. I thought you'd have seen that by now!"

Meiling laughs nervously. "I'm just asking cause this morning, when I went to wake up your sister, they were cuddling and stuff. I dunno. That was the first I had seen anything like that, so..."

Flandre giggles. "They're really close. Always have been!" She doesn't say anything more on the subject, instead flying around Meiling and watching her cook, curiosity evident on her face. "What's that? What are you making?"

"It's, uh. Stew. Nothing too fancy. It'll be good for Patchouli. Hopefully, anyways." Meiling doesn't look away from the pot. Under normal circumstances, she would have put human meat in, but... again, she had no idea what Patchouli ate. So it was just vegetables and herbs.

"That's good! It smells good, too." Flandre's eyes wander, to other cupboards. "Can I... have some blood, though? There's no blood in that, is there?"

"Nope. I dunno what Patchouli eats, so. I wouldn't want to feed her human if that's not her thing. And yeah, there's some blood over there." Meiling gestures to one of the cupboards with a jerk of her elbow. "I'm a bit busy so you'll have to get it yourself."

"That's fine!" Flan flies over to the cubpoard, opening it and grabbing a bottle of blood. She stares at it for a moment. "It's closed. Where's the. Cork remover thing." Meiling blinks. Oh yeah.

"Uh. I think it should be - " She's interrupted by the sound of shattering glass. Meiling spins around. Flandre is holding half of the bottle, while the other half lies in pieces around her. The floor is splattered with blood, as is Flandre.

The young vampire blinks. "Oh, sorry, I didn't mean to -" she explains, quickly, but Meiling cuts her off.

"It's fine. I'll clean it up. Are you okay?"

"Y-yeah." Flandre mutters, looking down. "I'm sorry."

"It's fine, it's nothing." Meiling pats her head gently. "Just drink the rest, and I'll throw the bottle out after, alright? It's nothing to worry about." Flandre still looks downcast, so Meiling wraps her arms around her. "It's okay."

"...Okay," she hugs her back, tentatively. "I'm really sorry..."

"It's alright!" Meiling pats her shoulder, before pulling away. "Nothing to worry about. I'm just doing my job." Flandre doesn't reply, and flies over to sit on the counter. Meiling quickly mops up the mess. She has to pick up each shard of glass individually, but it's not that much work.

The stew boils.

Meiling hurries back to the stove and turns off the heat. She lets it cool down for a few minutes before spooning it into three bowls. She hands one to Flandre, who gives her a quick thanks before quickly eating it.

"I'm gonna head upstairs to give these bowls to Lady Remilia and Patchouli, alright? I'll be back later."

"Alright," Flandre mumbles with a mouthful of soup.

Meiling takes the bowls and makes her way to Remilia's room. Now that she's paying attention, she can more easily detect Patchouli. Her chi is just as faint as before. Once she gets there, Meiling kicks the door softly. "Lady Remilia. I have supper."

"Oh, splendid! Come in!" Meiling pushes the door open and walks on inside. Patchouli is still lying in the bed, although she's considerably more awake than the last time Meiling was here. She's leaning against the headboard. She's pale, but not much more than she usually is.

When Meiling comes in, Patchouli looks up at her. Remilia is sitting beside her, having discarded her hat at some point. The vampire has a wide grin on her face. "Good evening, Meiling. Is that stew?"

Meiling nods quickly, floating over to their bed. "Yes. It's still hot, so be careful." Remilia takes her bowl, while Meiling leaves Patchouli's on the nightstand by her side of the bed. "Sorry, Lady Remilia, it doesn't have any blood in it. I wasn't sure if that was something Lady Patchouli ate."

"It's just food," Patchouli mutters hoarsely, before coughing. "I don't care." Her coughing fit continues, and Patchouli leans against Remilia, trembling and gasping for breath. Remilia rubs her back gently.

Once Patchouli stops coughing, Remilia speaks up. "Could you perhaps make some tea, as well?"

"Of course, Lady Remilia." Patchouli sighs, but doesn't say anything. Meiling awkwardly backs out of the room and returns to the kitchen to start making tea. Her own stomach growls. Great.

Flandre is still sitting on the counter, eating her stew happily. The broken bottle from earlier is lying next to her, empty. "Hi Meiling!" She waves. "Did they like the soup?"

"I dunno, I didn't get to see them try it. I need to make tea for Lady Patchouli, she still isn't feeling well." The younger vampire frowns.

"Oh. Well, I'm gonna go check up on her!" Flandre declares, setting her empty bowl down on the counter. Then, she's flying out of the room before Meiling can reply.

Meiling chuckles, before turning back to the oven to prepare Patchouli's tea. She puts honey in it – she knows, from personal experience, that it's good for sore throats. She adds some other herbs, before leaving it to boil.

Then, she takes her own bowlful of stew and eats in silence, waiting for the tea to boil. And it does, eventually. With a sigh, Meiling stands up and pours it into a mug, then brings it up to Remilia's room. She had managed to finish her stew, but she was still pretty hungry. She hadn't had a lot to eat.

When she reaches the room, however, she realizes that Remilia and Flandre aren't there. Patchouli still is, though, and that's who Meiling made the tea for, so... It takes a moment for Meiling to gather the courage to open the door, though. It was easier to talk to Patchouli when Remilia was around.

She opens the door a crack. "Uh, I have the tea. Can I come in?"

Patchouli looks up from her book and nods. Meiling pushes open the door and walks in. "Here. It's hot, but it should soothe your throat." The magician nods and takes the cup into her hands.

"... Thank you." Her voice is quiet and hoarse, and even those few words are enough to cause her to cough again. Meiling stands there awkwardly, for a few moments. She's not sure what to do, now. She can sense Remilia and Flandre, off in the distance – outside, near the makeshift gardens. Flandre must have wanted to show her them.

A few minutes pass in silence. Patchouli continues sipping at her tea. Meiling notices that the bow she had brought up earlier was almost empty. "So, uh. Do you need anything else, or..."

Patchouli takes a shaky breath. "No. If you wish to leave, you're free to do so."

The thing is, Meiling doesn't _want_ to leave. She hasn't been able to get a moment alone with Patchouli since they were looking for that cookbook. And now that she's alone with her, she wants to talk and talk and talk.

When Meiling doesn't leave, Patchouli looks back up at her. There's a brief silence before Patchouli just looks back down at her book. "So? Do you want to talk? I don't think I'll be the best conversational partner, but." The magician's voice trails off hoarsely, and she coughs again.

"Uh." Meiling doesn't know what to say. "Well, uh. Yeah, I wanted to talk."

"About?"

Meiling shifts awkwardly. "I dunno, anything. It's not like I had a topic picked out before. I didn't even know Lady Remilia and Flandre were out until I got here."

"Oh. Yes, that reminds me."

"What?"

"You knew I was in the room alone before you entered, didn't you? You knocked before when Remi, was inside."

Meiling flinches. "Oh, I-I'm sorry!"

Patchouli waves her hand, taking another breath. "It's fine. I don't care. What I'm curious about is how? Could you smell that I was the only one in the room? Or something else?"

"Oh, uh." Meiling rubs the back of her neck. "Not quite. I just felt that you were the only one in the room. I can sense your chi, and the others weren't there, so..."

Patchouli looks at her, and raises an eyebrow. "Chi? What's that?"

"... Oh, you don't know what chi is? Huh." Meiling scrunches her eyebrows together, trying to think about how to explain it. "Well. It's like. The flow of your life, inside you. It's everywhere. Permeates everything, connects everything..." Meiling makes a series of vague gestures. "It's a big part of how I fight, and. How I exist in general, really."

The magician looks very interested. "Really? I hadn't heard of it before."

"That makes sense, I guess," Meiling mutters.

"And how do you use it? I mean, you can evidently sense the positions of other living things with it. On that note, how do you detect Remi and Flan? They're not really alive."

"Well. They still have chi. I dunno how, exactly. Maybe they're like jiangshi," Meiling shrugs. "Oh, you probably don't know what those are. They're. Undead, from where I come from. They jump around and drain people's chi from their fingertips. They're. Very unpleasant to deal with."

"They sound like it."

"Anyways, you asked me how I used it to fight. Well. I use chi to... amplify my blows, and increase my speed, and stuff. With it, I move faster, hit harder, become more resilient... etcetera. And, uh. I can do this," Meiling holds up her palm, and concentrates. Her own chi flow comes to her easily, flowing into the shape of a glowing sphere in her hand.

Patchouli stares at it, curious. "I assume this would be used as some sort of projectile."

"Yeah." Meiling lets it fizzle away. "That takes more energy than just passively using it, though. And, uh. Yeah. It takes a lot of practice and discipline to be able to manipulate chi. You need to have control of your body. It takes a lot of work."

The magician nods, and takes a long drink of tea. "Hm. I suppose I wouldn't be able to do it then, with how frail my own body is."

"Yeah," Meiling says, almost apologetically. "I need to practice a lot, still. To refine my technique and increase the amount of chi I can put out and stuff." Patchouli nods, looking back to her book.

"That sounds interesting. Perhaps I'll be able to find a book about it, someday."

The dragon nods. "Yeah. Maybe. I doubt they'll have any here, but..."

Patchouli shrugs. At that time, the door opens again, and Remilia enters. "You've gotten some nice work done on the gardens, Meiling. I'm impressed! Eventually, they'll be in bloom, huh? A perfect garden for the perfect Remilia Scarlet!" Patchouli chuckles, and the vampire sticks her tongue out at her.

"Yes, Lady Remilia. It'll take a while, but yes." Meiling brushes off the front of her dress.

Remilia grins, looking particularly smug. "Mhm. Anyways! Patche, are you feeling any better?"

"Eh," Patchouli looks up from her book. "My throat doesn't hurt as much, so I suppose it's a start. Thank you for that, Meiling."

Meiling laughs nervously, and bows. "No problem. I'm glad that I could help." This seems like a good time to duck out... "Anyways, I should get back to cleaning. Have a good night, Lady Remilia, Lady Patchouli."

"You too." Remilia nods, and Meiling walks out of the room, and back to the kitchen. That had been one of her first real conversations with Patchouli, after they had looked for the cookbook. And... it had went pretty well.

The dragon allows herself a small smile. Maybe she isn't so hopeless at this thing after all.

 


	5. Chapter 5

Meiling sweeps her foot over the ground and takes a deep breath. Rain falls around her softly. The sky is dark and cloudy – it wasn't anywhere near the night yet, but the sun was nowhere to be found. Meiling had told Remilia about it, but it turned out the vampire couldn't go out in the rain. Being a vampire sounded more and more inconvenient the more Meiling heard about it.

Still, the dragon was glad for the rain. It'd be good for the garden, and maybe she'd be able to see a nice rainbow once the clouds cleared. So, for now, Meiling was getting some exercise in. She had been doing so for almost an hour – Remilia was busy doing whatever it is she did in her free time.

Probably messing around with Patchouli or Flandre.

Meiling wipes sweat and rain from her brow and returns to her movements. She was just doing what she usually did – a brief warm-up (some push-ups and sits up, followed by a few flying laps around the mansion), some t'ai chi ch'uan, and then revisiting fights she had participated in before. She remembered each one well.

Now that she was alone, she could focus on them. Focus on doing them _better._ Cutting out unnecessary movements. Increasing the power behind her blows. Correcting mistakes. Doing the things she should have done then. Even an easy fight could be improved. There was no such thing as perfect.

Of all the fights she revisited, she thought of the one that had landed her in this whole mess the most. What should have been an easy fight had ended with her being shot. Repeatedly. All because she had let her guard down against some youkai hunters. _It should have been easy._

Still, even with the bullet wounds, she still had the strength to beat the rest. Just took some concentration and some chi, and she had been fine. And then she passed out from blood loss, and woke up in an unfamiliar bed. The Scarlet Devil Mansion.

Meiling had wandered out of her room after, and gotten lost, before running into Remilia. The vampire had explained the situation, and how she had found Meiling – surrounded by a bunch of dead or dying humans in the middle of nowhere. She had saved her life.

Through manipulation of her fate or through luck, Meiling doesn't know.

She concentrates on her training again. No point in dwelling too much on the past. Meiling wanders farther away from the mansion, into the woods. There, she could train without worrying about breaking anything _too_ important. Some trees, maybe, but it'd be fine.

Eventually, Meiling sits down on a rock. Blood rushes in her ears. Rain drips down from the leaves. Her breathing is slow, heaving. Meiling runs her hand through her hair with a content sigh. That was a pretty good training session. She controlled herself well – she left the trees untouched.

Well, mostly. Meiling gives herself an A for effort. For now, she just meditates. The forest is alive, vibrant with chi. Every living thing in the woods has its own signature – from the smallest animal to the tallest tree. Bright and alive. The rain slowly subsides, to a drizzle, and then, to nothing.

"Meiling? Are you here?" A voice rings out through the forest, and Meiling turns around. Remilia walks up, holding an umbrella under her arm. "Oh, yes! Hello!" She waves happily.

The dragon jumps down from the rock and nods. "Uh, hey. What're you doing out here?"

"I like walking after it's rained," Remilia says, looking up at the sky, through the cover of the trees. "It's pretty! Smells good, too!" She smiles, before looking back at Meiling. "You've been training, then...?"

"Yeah..." Meiling's voice trails off and she flicks the rain off of her hat. "Do you need something, Lady Remilia?"

"Oh, yes. Come," Remilia walks back the way she came. "Walk with me."

* * *

The path Remi follows is dark. She's quiet, at first. Meiling walks behind her, looking around. There's not a lot to see. The occassional animal rushing past and hiding in the darkness. But there are many sounds. Owls hooting in the distance. Squeaking bats.

"So, Meiling." Remilia says, eventually. "How have things been lately?"

"Uh? Things have been okay," Meiling mutters, "Flandre's control has been improving a bit, but still..." She trails off and then shrugs. "I dunno. Everything's been pretty good lately, I guess."

Remi nods. "Okay, that's good, then..." She clicks her tongue, thinking. "And you've healed well," she continues, without pausing. "That's good. Now, I. I have a request for you, Meiling."

Meiling pauses, caught off guard by the sudden change in Remilia's tone. "... Uh, and that is...?"

"I'm sure you've become aware of Patche's ill health, yes? Well, it's declining again. This tends to happen every once and a while, but... I dunno, I'd rather be safe about it, you know?"

"Yeah," Meiling nods, crossing her arms. "So... do you just want me to continue with what I was doing? Making her soothing tea and stuff? I know some basic herbal remedies, so I could probably help with that..."

Remilia nods. "Yes. Stuff like that. I'll probably be spending more time with her. To make sure she gets the rest she needs and everything. God, she's like a machine. She never knows when to stop with her research." The vampire sounds upset.

"I got that impression," Meiling admits, scratching at her neck. "So, uh... what's. Your relationship with her, exactly...?" The question had still been burning at the back of her mind for days, even with all the answers she had gotten. None of them felt. Right enough. It'd be best to get it from one of the people who was actually in the relationship.

"Oh?" Remilia grins. "I love her, very, very much. And I know she loves me just the same. It's not romantic, but describing it as platonic seems like an understatement. She's the most important thing in my life. I don't know what I'd do without her."

Meiling flushes and looks away. "Oh, uh. A-alright," she mutters. She hadn't expected such an. In-depth response. But... it at least answered her questions. There's a few moments of silence, before Meiling clears her throat. "I should get going to pick up herbs and stuff, for Lady Patchouli. I'll be back soon, Lady Remilia." She does a short, curt bow, before flying off.

"Alright. See you then, Meiling!" Remilia waves good bye, before opening up her umbrella and walking back to the mansion, back down the dark path they had taken.

* * *

The dragon returns not long later. The forests around the mansion are filled with plants, many of which Meiling knows are good for sickness. She brews much of it into tea, and makes her way to Patche's room in the library.

Meiling has never been in Patche's own room before, but she could sense that both Remilia and Patchouli were there. She floats into the library, and is immediately greeted by the sound of flapping wings. "Meiling!" Koakuma waves to her, descending from one of the higher levels. "Hey. Lady Patchouli's in her room, with Lady Remilia. She's. Pretty sick right now, so..."

"Alright," Meiling nods and rushes over to the room. The door is small and unassuming, tucked away behind the rows of bookcases. She knocks on it politely. "Uh, hey. It's me, Meiling. I brought tea..."

There's no response, at first, and then - "Come in," Remilia calls out, sounding tired. Meiling nudges the door open and walks in awkwardly, not quite sure of what to expect from the magician's private quarters.

Patchouli's room is nothing like the library outside.

It's a mess, first of all. Discarded clothes and books and piles of paper are scattered over the floor. There's a large desk, covered in clutter and open books and empty mugs. In the center of the room, there's a bed – just as large as Remilia's, but a lot less oversized for the taller mage.

The mage in question is wrapped in a bundle of blankets, leaning against the wall behind her. Remilia is sitting on the bed next to her, kicking her legs. She looks tired, and worried. Patchouli coughs, and then nods towards Meiling weakly. "H-hello," she mutters, her voice hoarse.

"Uh, hey. I brought tea," Meiling hands the mug over to Patchouli, who takes it with shaky hands. "It's hot, so be careful." The mage just nods in response, holding the mug between her hands carefully. She looks much more pale than usual, and her chi is unusually faint, even for her. "Is everything alright...?"

The mage just waves her away. "I'm fine," she snaps, before breaking out into a coughing fit. The mug shakes in her hands, and she spills some of the tea onto her blankets. She doesn't comment on it, and she doesn't continue whatever thought she had. Patchouli just sinks further into her blankets and hands the tea to Remilia, who puts it on her nightstand.

"She has the flu, apparently," Remilia mutters, "She says she'll be fine, but." The vampire scowls and fidgets with her dress. Patchouli groans and pulls the blankets over her head. Remi looks back at her, and then stands up. "... We should leave her be, let her get her rest."

Remilia walks out of the room, before turning back to look at Patche. "... I hope you feel better soon, love."

"Thank you," Patchouli responds, before breaking into another coughing fit. Once she stops coughing, she lifts her arm and taps her finger against the wall several times. Meiling stares at her blankly, but Remilia brightens up considerably.

"Love you too! Have a good rest," the vampire says, before leaving the room, dragging Meiling with her. Remilia's smiling slightly now, although she still seems worried. The dragon glances back at the closed door.

"... What was that? Did she – what did she do...?"

"Morse code!" Remilia doesn't elaborate.

* * *

The two of them end up sitting at a table on the balcony. The clouds from earlier have dispersed, the bright moon shining in the sky. Remilia leans back in her chair and sips from her glass. "You know, we've never really sat down together like this, huh?"

Meiling shakes her head. It was just the two of them, with some wine that Remilia had kept lying around. "It's a nice night, today," the dragon says, eventually, drinking from her own glass. She still preferred rice wine, but this was okay.

Remilia nods. "It's a beautiful night, yes." She lifts her wine glass up, as if toasting to the night. "If only it were like this more often," she sighs, almost dramatically. "But alas! I suppose the night can't last forever."

They're silent for a while longer, before Meiling clears her throat. "So... if you don't mind me asking, how did you meet Lady Patchouli?" The vampire glances over at her and sips from her glass, before looking back at the moon.

"Oh, I think it's been sixty years, now. I'm not good with remembering that sort of thing," she admits. "But! It was back at the old mansion location, before the two of us relocated it." In response to the look Meiling gives her, Remilia just winks. "Magic is quite the handy skill to have, Meiling. Look into it."

She continues. "Anyways. The mansion was even more of a mess then when you first came here. Which makes sense. It burned down. It's a long story, and I'd really rather not share it at this time. But it was a disaster, back then. Patche was wandering around, back then. We ran into each other a few times. She'd visit and ask about vampires and stuff. I'd answer. She started visiting more and more, eventually, she got me to take a bath, and then... well, one thing led to another, and she moved in." Remilia swirls the liquids in her glass. "That's that. I dunno if you want a play-by-play or what, but - "

"I'm fine," Meiling mutters, shaking her head. "And she's always been sickly?"

The vampire nods, looking serious again. "Yeah. Less so, back then. It's gotten worse, though," her voice trails off and she taps her finger against her glass. "Hopefully it doesn't get too much worse... I don't know what I'd do without her." Remilia suddenly sounds uncharacteristically small. She sighs. "She'll be fine, probably. Nothing to worry about. We'll both make sure of that."

"Uh, yeah." Meiling nods, quickly. She was caught off guard by the sudden shift in Remilia's mood. And... she didn't want Patchouli to die, either. Even if the two of them were kinda distant. "I'll do my best to take care of her, and everything."

Remilia smiles, flashing her fangs. "Thank you, Meiling. I knew I could count on you." The vampire's voice breaks away into a yawn, and she rises up from her seat. "Well. It was nice talking to you, but all this drink has made me tired. It's not like I slept a lot before, anyways. I'll see you tomorrow morning."

"Sleep well, Lady Remilia."

"You too, Meiling." Remilia goes back inside, swishing her wine glass and humming to herself. Meiling watches her leave, before turning back to the night sky. She drinks the rest of her wine and stands up.

She still has work to do.


End file.
